


References and Sensitive Content

by Moon6Shadow



Series: Fandom Meta [3]
Category: Fandom - Fandom
Genre: AO3 tagging etiquette, Don't copy to another site, Fanwork Research & Reference Guides, Gen, Inspired By Tumblr, Noncon/rape tagging etiquette, Reader's Perspective, Reposting is only allowed for historic preservation with credit; not for personal or financial gain., cheat sheet, fandom tagging etiquette, fanfic raised adult, minors reading mature content, reference, tagging advice, tagging etiquette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-21
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2020-10-25 09:18:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20721845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moon6Shadow/pseuds/Moon6Shadow
Summary: -Noncon/Rape Tagging Etiquette-Minors Reading Mature Content





	1. Noncon/Rape Tagging Etiquette

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This started small and turned into a long tangent explanation of how and why noncon/rape archive warning tag and additional tags work the way they do. Plus general tagging advice of what does and doesn’t work, from a reader’s perspective, that probably gets way too detailed for newbie tagging.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Edited (27 Oct. 2019)]  
Inspired by question to 'ao3commentoftheday' on tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/reblog/187848190750/Llz3Dtq9
> 
> Hello! I'm wondering about relationship tags. Is rape considered a relationship? When looking for stories with a certain pairing, there is no way to tell the difference between romance and rape, and the warning does not specify which of the listed relationships is affected. Is it alright to list such pairing in relationship tags? As a reader, I wouldn't want to find rape when looking for pairing, but I've been told it belongs there...  
-mirach

This started small and turned into a _long_ tangent explanation of how and why noncon/rape archive warning tag and additional tags work the way they do. Plus general tagging advice of what does and doesn’t work, from a reader’s perspective, that probably gets way too detailed for newbie tagging.

Long story short: The noncon/rape archive warning tag is an umbrella tag for things that ‘would not be okay in real life’ and should be treated as such hence a lot of ‘problematic’ relationships are under the noncon/rape archive warning tag.

This was (mostly) written from top to bottom so it’s designed to make sense that way (although some bits were reshuffled/added). The headings are just to draw attention to sections. Also broken down further into basics, ‘semi’ detailed tagging and detailed tagging so newbies don’t get overwhelmed. If you have been reading fanfic for awhile you might also found you’ve picked up on things as a reader without even realising it.

* * *

**Warning Tag Basics:**

**Noncon/Rape Relationships explained and why it’s important to tag that way:**

As mentioned by another commenter, typically if a 'noncon/rape relationship' is tagged with the relationship tag it's because that relationship is the main focus of the story. As mentioned ‘noncon’ is big in some relationships because certain characters don’t like using words (aka talking about consent) and #dysfunctional relationships come into play and the noncon/rape tag warning is now a great big flashing sign from the author going ‘yeah these characters are a mess and don’t ever try this kind of relationship in real life. In fact if you do get into this sort of relationship and you can’t figure out how to communicate with each other it’s time to run for the hills and then run some more just for good measure.’

Hence why authors tag certain relationship stories with noncon/rape, it’s because there is this whole grey area when you leave out clearly expressed consent and this is their heads up to readers that ‘no this relationship would not be okay in real life and should be avoided at all costs.’

This works well in some cases but it can cause confusion if you think about it in terms of ‘rape relationships are being tagged in the relationship section!?!?’ except it’s not just a ‘rape’ tag it’s a _noncon/rape_ archive warning tag. So it’s all under the ‘do not do this in real life’ warning category. 

**When noncon/rape is tagged but not in the main relationship and tagging is complicated:**

The relationship tagging issue also leads into what happens when there is a noncon/rape archive warning tag which doesn’t involve the main relationship of the story. In which case it’s not uncommon for stories to have a tag along the lines of ‘noncon/rape not between main characters!’.

I’d also recommend putting those sorts of tags as your first additional tag so readers can see it easily else it may get overlooked among the other tags and readers may only see the noncon/rape archive warning tag which could turn off the readers you want and may attract the readers you don’t want.

**Using archive warnings, Why? Why Not?:**

The sort of stories mentioned above sometimes use the ‘did not use archive warnings’ function likely because they don’t want to attract the ‘wrong crowd’ and may just put the noncon/rape warning in the additional tags rather then the official archive warning tag. Which.... yes it’s an option. However it does mean that if the reader isn’t paying close attention to the tags they can stumble across a fic with noncon/rape unexpectedly. So if you do use that method I would recommend ensuring the ‘noncon/rape’ additional tag is the first additional tag rather then potentially lost within a mass of other additional tags.

Having ‘#noncon/rape’ in the actual story summary or somewhere easy to see also wouldn’t hurt to ensure people got the message. People typically seem to use ‘important please read’ in capitals in the first chapter top notes to try and get warning messages out, except not everyone reads authors notes, especially top chapter author’s notes when they aren’t even invested in the story yet. The capitals might catch some people’s attention but it might not catch everybody’s. Some people may also get turned off by ‘Author chose not to use archive warnings’ because of things like ‘lack of appropriate warning tagging’.

Basically things tend to get ‘complicated’ when this happens and the overall archive warning system is there for a reason. You don’t have to use it and it’s easy to see why author’s might have a legit reason to do this but.... things get complicated and ‘appropriate tagging’ is really helpful to readers trying to find or avoid content. So using the noncon/rape archive warning tag could be considered the ‘polite’ thing to do.

**On purpose lack of ‘appropriate tagging’ to avoid spoilers aka 'author chose not to use archive warnings' tag:**

This could (or arguably should) be considered very differently and typically the author will still give a warning if the story is going to turn dark so the readers have at least some idea of what is to come, some readers may like this and some readers might not.

**Basic Tagging:**

Another way could also be to just use 'basic tagging' eg. 'noncon/rape, underage, incest and (graphic) gore' umbrella warning tags and avoid going into additional tags beyond that. The AO3′s ‘basic’ archive warning tagging system in some ways could even be considered more about protecting the _authors_ from Flamers then it is about protecting the readers which wouldn’t surprise me considering AO3 was created to protect fans, specifically fan creators, and allow them to post whatever they wanted in an Archive Of Our Own without fear of it being taken down.

‘Ironically’ published books have a _long way to go_ with catching up with ‘tagging etiquette’ as far as Fandom is concerned. Fandom standards tend to be a lot higher when it comes to warnings and tagging probably partly to due to fandom’s problematic history given it’s ‘right to exist’ and partly because tags are so useful so people keep creating more of them.

There is also the **‘basic rule(s) of tagging to consider’:**

Wrong tags, or lack of tags, may lead to people stumbling over the wrong content and getting upset. While correct tags increases likelihood of attracting the right readers and makes life easier for everybody.

The noncon/rape archive warning tag gets complicated (very complicated if you’re not used to it) but this basic rule of thumb for tagging still applies.

(Yes I'm bias towards tagging.)

* * *

**‘Semi’ Detailed Tagging:**

**Additional Tags aka noncon/rape archive warning is an umbrella tag and should be treated as such:**

Speaking of it’s _really_ _useful_ if you use the archive warning tags and then clarify them further in the additional tags. All ‘main’ tags are basically big umbrella labels eg. tagging a romantic/sexual relationship doesn’t tell you what type of romantic/sexual relationship it is but the additional tags do eg. smut, fluff, hurt/comfort etc.

The same thinking applies to the archive warning labels. The ‘noncon/rape’ archive warning is this great big umbrella warning which can be broken down in the additional tags. eg. ‘#rape’ would typically mean, this is obviously rape and there is potentially a fully fleshed out rape scene. Something along the lines of ‘#rape skimmed over’ can let readers know there rape is there but not in detail. #potentially noncon, is when things get grey (or _really_ grey) and basically the character’s really need to have a sit down and chat about consent but they’re going ahead anyway or one of them is. Alternate tag often used for this is ‘dubcon’ aka dubious consent.

(This can also backslide straight into ‘traumatic rape’ territory and hence why noncon/rape is one tag since people may have different levels of what they consider ‘too much to handle’ even in fanfic. People need to be able to back away and leave when it gets too much if they like reading things in this territory.)

Tags along the lines of ‘noncon/rape elements’ basically mean there is going to be dubious consent in regards to something somewhere along the line maybe not ‘fullscale’ potential noncon or a full sex scene but there are going to be elements of it somewhere.

The ‘dysfunctional relationship’ tag essentially means “Okay throw out the rule book for ‘traditional’ relationships, this is going to get messy.” Morals may, or may not, also have gone out the window along with the rule book. This tag is often combined with tags along the lines of ‘noncon/rape elements’, not always! but for certain relationships it can be really common.

**Noncon/Dubcon Archive Warning:**

Getting back to the ‘noncon/dubcon’ archive warning and how it’s an umbrella tag there has been so many times when I have stared at a noncon/rape archive warning tag and wanted to poke it with a stick wondering which one it is because I’m all for them being under the same noncon/rape warning umbrella tag but clarification in the additional tags is really helpful. Summaries can potentially help clarify things so you ‘assume’ it’s an x type of fic but things being outright stated in additional tags is _amazing_. <3

Some relationships do become known for having ‘potential noncon’ when it comes to shipping so the “this is likely to fall under 'potential noncon’ rather then ‘traumatic rape’ unless the additional tags say otherwise” can become practically implied for some ships if they are using the noncon/rape archive warning tag. Where as other relationships become known for implying things go in the other direction if they use a noncon/rape archive warning tag aka ‘insert picture of a great big flashing warning sign for rape and trauma’ here.

The ‘problem’ is this is typically something you learn from experience from knowing the fandom, or how certain pairings tend to work, rather than something out right stated. Also no two fics are every exactly alike and so the ‘norm’ is not the rule and hence any warnings the author given should be taken into consideration.

**The Noncon/Rape Umbrella Warning and Consent:**

So basically everything’s lumped into this great big noncon/rape umbrella to let people know that ‘this is not okay in real life’ but there is a _big difference_ between someone writing a rape scene that is obviously intended to be traumatic and a dysfunctional relationship where the characters really, really need to figure out how to use words because explicit consent is a thing even if the characters are ‘obviously’ really into it.

Basically, in real life if someone is into manhandling, drawing blood, knives, getting tied up or whatever, you need to be talking about consent!!!! In detail, lots and lots of detail, except these characters aren’t doing that and so authors throw noncon/rape tags at their stories as a warning sign not to do things like this, _ever_.

Another point to keep in mind in regards to warning tags it’s not ‘just’ fandom or flamers cracking down on the writers, this is the _writers_ themselves telling the readers this behaviour is not okay and they do not condone this behaviour.

Read the additional notes and author’s notes some time, the authors themselves will tell you over, and over, and over again that this behaviour is not okay. Until they slap a Dead Dove: Do Not Eat tag on it because ‘seriously, I tagged it and I’ve told you enough times already, you should have gotten the message by now.’

* * *

**Detailed Tagging:**

**Chapter alerts, skipping noncon/rape scenes and scene breaks:**

Stories that have ‘traumatic rape’ rather than ‘potential noncon: these characters really need to learn to use words’ sometimes have warnings around noncon/rape scenes so readers can skip them if they want to. The author will let you know in the character’s top notes the noncon/rape scene is in the chapter and the warning system they are using to help you skip it. eg. a centered *** before and after a scene. Speaking of it works way better if you completely separate this section from everything else. eg. have a line break before and after the scene so people aren’t trying to find the ‘end scene’ alert in the middle of the text because it’s right there in front of them.

Typically these are the stories that have less ‘noncon/rape’ content and so it is easier for authors to do this. It’s common to see this sort of thing happening in hurt/comfort stories or stories where the rape is referred to via flashback or as part of the character’s ‘characterization’ arc. Where typically the noncon/rape relationship isn’t the focus of the story, rather it’s notable for the impact the experience had on the character.

**Specific Chapter warnings:**

Authors may sometimes give a ‘general’ warning a story is going to be dark with ‘additional tags updated as they write’ and/or have specific warnings via chapter. eg. they let you know in the top chapter notes that they have put chapter specific warning tags in the chapter’s end notes. This can make things more flexible for the author, allowing them to add warnings as they write and avoid any ‘spoilers’ via warning tags by putting them at the end of the chapter, which some readers may also really appreciate.

If there are markers around a scene that allows you to skip it, a basic overview of anything you missed may also be included in the end notes to help catch you up to speed.

**Line Break Tip:**

‘Fancy’ line breaks made up of repeating letters are extremely annoying and off putting for those using ‘text to audio’ programs and are best avoided. While a line break made up of an actual line will just cause the system to pause for a moment to signify a scene break and works way better, if I’m remembering correctly.

I’m not sure how the centered *** as a linebreak would work for an text to audio program but that is one of the more ‘minimalist’ version I know of making a line break if an actual line break isn’t an option (or you could cut back to one star maybe). Also it looks good and won’t run into issues due to people’s screens being different widths. Repeated letter line breaks used to be really popular on FanFiction.Net back in the day, I haven’t reread any of those stories recently but I imagine they also wouldn’t translate so well when it comes to mobile users these days.

* **Scene Skips via Jump links**

[MohnblumenKind](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MohnblumenKind/pseuds/MohnblumenKind) came up with the brilliant idea to use jump links as a 'less disruptive' method then line breaks for skipping over potentially traumatic scenes. They explain how to do this, and give coding, in chapter 3 of [Personal Experiment with HTML and CSS](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15685086/chapters/36443283). I've since expanded on this idea to create a 'jump summary' which allows the author to make a footnote which gives a basic overview of the skipped scene and anything important the reader might miss before allowing the reader to jump over the potentially traumatic scene when sending them back to text. ([Scroll down to jump links heading for jump summary coding](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20998517/chapters/49937585).)

Author's typically give readers a heads up about potentially traumatic scene skips via line breaks in the beginning chapter notes. For minimal disruption authors might want to continue that trend by giving readers a heads up in the beginning author's notes that there is going to be a potentially traumatic scene with a scene skip/jump link in this specific chapter. This can help avoid readers being surprised by a 'jump' or 'jump summary' link mid chapter, particularly since this use of links might be unfamiliar to them.

* * *

**Side notes: **

**Dysfunctional Relationships & Dead Dove: Do Not Eat**

The dysfunctional relationship tag by itself doesn’t mean noncon/rape elements but with some popular relationships it can be implied if not outright stated in the warning tags and additional tags. Best to think of the dysfunctional relationship tag as another umbrella tag that can be combined with other tags for further clarification and regular warning tags are still required. eg. tags along the lines of ‘noncon/rape elements’.

There is also the ‘Dead Dove: Do Not Eat’ [tag](https://mostlyvalid.tumblr.com/post/116424790408/a-proposal) which essentially means this story is exactly ‘what it says on the tin’ aka:

_This story is exactly what it says in the tags, end of story, no ifs, buts or maybes. Additionally please your expectations for happy endings and moral teachings at the door or show yourself out, thank you!_

_Warning! Ignoring the Dead Dove: Do Not Eat tag may result in the author being amused by flamers and toasting marshmallows over the flames they leave. Please enjoy the story and have a nice day!!!!_

_(Ignore this warning at your own peril.)_

Basically think of every single additional tag and author’s note about being completely and utterly _done_ with flamers and this is pretty much what the Dead Dove: Do Not Eat tag means in a nutshell.

* * *

**Additional Notes:**

I talked as if the ‘potential noncon’ and ‘traumatic rape’ stories were very different in this which they can be but there is also so much greyscale between them. I mentioned at one-point people’s ‘too much’ level may vary and so something to keep in mind is that sometimes all the additional tags in the world can’t help you when it comes to extremely greyscale tagging and that is a why the overall 'noncon/rape' umbrella warning is all in one tag so you don’t have to get it perfect. So additional tags can be really helpful but at the end of the day the ‘noncon/rape’ umbrella tag is the important one so readers have a heads up and know they need to be able to step lightly or back away.

Edit:

[harriet-spy](https://www.tumblr.com/reblog/187867156153/Llz3Dtq9) pointed out on Tumblr that "Choose Not to Warn" should be considered it's own warning tag without the need for additional tags. Which point, basically make sure you've switched over to 'untagged published story' reading mode before picking up a "Choose Not to Warn" story or take the warning as is and don't read.

Edit:

TL;DR

To roughly quote myself from Tumblr:

"The thing is the noncon/rape tags are grey scale for a reason because taking 'rape' relationships out of the relationship tags could cause a debate over what ‘potential noncon’ relationships belong, or don’t belong, in the relationship tags. Also having noncon/rape relationships in the relationship tags make them much easier to find as mentioned before."

Basically this bit, I could go on all day but it's all going to boil back down to this. So I get how 'rape relationship' tags could be considered upsetting, particularly from a 'relationship means romantic relationship' point of view, but getting rid of 'rape relationships' tags opens a whole new can of worms about what is 'potential noncon' and what's 'rape' and while for some stories it's 'obvious' for others it could spark a massive debate and bring noncon/rape stories and their authors under fire, when they already have enough issues as is when it comes to their 'right to exist'. Also at the end of the day it all falls under the 'this is not okay in real life' warning tag/mindset and separating 'potential noncon' from 'rape' could undermine that warning/mindset.

Also note: 'relationship' doesn't just mean romantic, it can be friendship, mentors, family, sexual etc. 'relationship' means all relationships not just romantic relationships. So while this might be jarring from a 'relationship means romantic relationship' perspective, abusive relationships also fall under the relationship umbrella.


	2. Minors Reading Mature Content

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic raised adult’s perspective on minors reading mature content.
> 
> #Cannibalism (Lord of the Flies), brief mention.

Inspired by [this](https://www.tumblr.com/reblog/188229495095/5KuUQ8Pq) conversation on tumblr.

Mostly I agree with the above but I basically grew up with fanfics (adult now, hi) so I have feels about this topic in general (also I’m salty about this topic so not aimed at anyone but Warning! lots of salt.) Anyway, going off topic but:

In regards to:

"there is nothing inherently wrong with reading about good, emotional, consensual sex, especially not for minors." - [elveny](https://elveny.tumblr.com/post/188229495095)

Point, but people should also keep in mind there is also nothing wrong with reading a story about problematic issues that tell you they are problematic in the tags as a warning system that ‘if you get in this situation in real life you need to sit down for a very long chat with someone or you need to get the hell out of dodge.’

(I’m not saying a fic has to show it’s problematic in the fic, that not the author’s responsibility. Although the author can slap a noncon/rape or other warning tags on it to show people that 'this is not okay in real life and should not be upheld as an ideal relationship'. (There are also 'author chose not to use archive warnings' warning tags.))

I’m also a big believer in dysfunctional relationships that show people screwing up and then _fixing_ it or hurt/comfort stories, (war stories, PTSD, trauma etc.) that acknowledge that sometimes people need recover time or stuff happens in life and you don’t have to be okay with it, healing takes time and you don't have to be 'perfect' to still enjoy life.

People are _human_, you don’t need to white wash stories for kids and you really shouldn’t be. Rating? Warnings? ‘Author chose not to use archive warnings’ warnings? Hell yes. but give kids some credit and don’t wrap them in cotton wool please. Not all lessons about humanity have to be about ‘perfect’ humans, it can be the nitty gritty side of humanity to.

If not please ask (some) schools why they give The Lord of The Flies as a compulsory reading to teenagers. Being A-Okay with kids reading about cannibalism but not sex is just.... #salty #No I’m still not over some societies double standards in regards to ‘classics’ and compulsory readings. Fun fact: Those books don’t come with warning labels.

Basically, no I’m really not interested in an argument about this with antis but mature stories can be educational for kids, or really people in general, without being perfect.

Also, it’s _not_ the author’s responsibility to educate kids, people etc., and stories don't have to be educational, lets get that perfectly clear. Also readers are well within their rights to put their fic in places with an age limit. Please do what makes you comfortable. But this whole mindset of having ‘sterile, safe’ places for kids that doesn’t teach them about life doesn’t seem very safe to me. Also, this divide between adults and kids. Kids are likely still doing to read your fics, as said above:

“If you want to control who reads your writing, then don’t post it on the internet.” - ao3commentoftheday

“Those internet-savvy, fanfic-reading minors? Chances are, they already read the smut. Pretty sure of it.” - [elveny](https://elveny.tumblr.com/post/188229495095)

So as a fanfic raised person things like people trying to ‘hide’ their stuff from younger people or make ‘safe places for younger people’ just tell me that younger people are going to feel they need to hide, hide their age, hide their experience levels and not speak out or ask questions. It adds an undercurrent of fear to being a teenage reader or even being a past teenage reader. So add warning and rating tags, please add warning and rating tags or an 'author chose not to use warnings' warning tag etc. but please also consider the message you are sending people by adding age limits in a fandom space rather then just ratings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #I'm aware not all mature fics have an education focus.
> 
> Also, I didn't even get into the way age ratings can be abused. Mature Educational or LGBT+ content behind age restrictions for example, although that is also a concern. If you've been around awhile, or even just with the Tumblr adult content issues really, you may be familiar with why age limits and crack downs to mature content in general is a concern within fandom without adding in all the other issues. Fandom being split between old and young people however? That concerns me for a variety of reasons.
> 
> Edit:  
Clarification from Elveny on tumblr:  
In regards to:  
"there is nothing inherently wrong with reading about good, emotional, consensual sex, especially not for minors." - Elveny
> 
> Clarification (reposted with permission):  
I did not mean to say that ONLY good, emotional, consensual sex is fine to read for minors. I meant that especially as a contrast to problematic non-con/rape porn. Especially in these formative years, learning to distinguish between “this is okay” and “this is not okay” is important.
> 
>   
Otherwise: yes. Give the kids some credit. BUT tag it accordingly, warn accordingly. Mark it as containing sex. Then you’re good. -Elveny
> 
> #Misunderstanding resolved. #Post above left for educational purposes.


End file.
